John A. Miller. Huntington county is noted for its fine farmsteads, and in Clear Creek township is located one of the most attractive and valuable, known as the Miller Shorthorn Stock Farm, situated four and a half miles northeast of Huntington on the Mishler Pike. Its chief industry is the breeding of registered shorthorn cattle, and many of the up-to-date farmers in all this part of Indiana depend upon the Miller stock as a nucleus of their herds. Mr. Miller has spent money, patience and labor in laying the foundation of a splendid herd of shorthorns, and his animals are now considered as good as any of that breed now to be found in the state. He is the owner of eighty acres of land, in his farm, and has some valuable property in the city of Huntington. His achievements speak for themselves, and it is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Miller has long been regarded as one of the leading citizens of Huntington county.

John A. Miller was born on a farm in Whitley county, Indiana, August 2, 1862, a son of John and Sarah A. (Seidner) Miller. John Miller, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 3, 1827, was reared and married in his native county, and in 1856 moved to Indiana, and settled in Whitley county, where he followed the vocation of farming. This location was changed to Huntington county, Indiana, in 1875, and to the city of Huntington in 1898, where he resided until his death on March 7, 1912. In 1896, his first wife died, and in 1898 he was again married. By his first marriage there were thirteen children, of whom ten are still living, five sons and five daughters. The sons are mentioned as follows: Franklin E., of Whitley county; William A., of Huntington; Henry, of Clear Creek township; John A., also of Clear Creek township; and Perry E., of Jackson township. The daughters are; Mary E., wife of James W. Allen of Clear Creek township; Sarah E., wife of J.H. Neff, of Clear Creek township; Amanda E., wife of Frank Emley, of Lafayette township, Whitley county; and Irena J., wife of C.C. Howenstein, of Clear Creek township; and Minerva, wife of Newton Chenoweth, of Huntington.

Mr. John A. Miller was about twelve years of age when the family located in Huntington county. His training up to that time had been in the common schools of Whitley county, and he finished his education in this county. His home was with his parents until he was twenty-three years of age, and after he was nineteen he received wages for his work. In the meantime, Mr. Miller had learned the carpenter trade, and followed that as a workman for several years, and it is a skill which has been very useful to him in his subsequent career as an independent farmer.

On January 13, 1887, occurred the marriage of John A. Miller with Mary N. Fairchild, of Whitley county. She was born in that county, was educated in the common schools, and belonged to one of the old and well known families in that vicinity. To their marriage have been born five children: Jessie E., a graduate of the common schools and now the wife of H.O. Colclasser of Clear Creek township; Mertie E., a graduate of the common schools and the wife of Howard Haines; Flora M., who finished her work in the common schools; Ida, also a graduate of the common schools; and Marshall J., who is four years of age.

The Miller family have membership in the Brethren church, Mr. Miller being one of the deacons in the Clear Creek township church. His politics is that of the democratic party, and his part in community affairs has always been that of the good citizen, but he has never sought the distinctions of political office.